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Yasukuni Shrine, located in Tokyo, Japan, is dedicated to over 2,466,000 Japanese soldiers and servicemen who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan in the last 150 years. It also houses one of the few Japanese war museums dedicated to World War II.The shrine is at the center of an international controversy by honoring war criminals convicted by a post World War II court including 14 'Class A' war criminals. Japanese politicians, including prime ministers and cabinet members have paid visits to Yasukuni Shrine in recent years which caused criticism and protests from China, Korea, and Taiwan.

A wooden sign (centre) reading "Prime Minister Shinzo Abe" is seen on a ritual offering from the prime minister to Yasukuni Shrine at the shrine in Tokyo. Photo: Reuters

Japan’s Shinzo Abe offered a gift to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine on Monday, but reportedly plans to stay away during the spring festival, in an apparent compromise between not angering Asian neighbours and playing to his nationalist base.

The unapologetically nationalist Abe donated a sacred “masakaki” tree to coincide with the start of a three-day festival, a shrine official said, two days ahead of the arrival of US President Barack Obama.

The sending of a gift has been seen as a sign that Abe does not intend to visit, as he did on December 26, sparking fury in Asia and earning him a diplomatic slap on the wrist from the United States, which said it was “disappointed”.

Yasukuni Shrine honours Japan’s war dead, including some senior military and political figures convicted of serious crimes in the wake of the country’s Second World War defeat.

That, and the accompanying museum - which paints Japan as a frustrated liberator of Asia and victim of the Second World War - makes it controversial, especially in China and South Korea, where it is seen as a symbol of Japan’s lack of penitence.

Abe and other nationalists say the shrine is merely a place to remember fallen soldiers. They compare it with Arlington National Cemetery in the United States.

Abe cautious ahead of Obama visit

Masaru Ikei, an expert on Japanese diplomacy and professor emeritus at Keio University, said with Obama due to arrive on Wednesday for a state visit, Abe was always likely to stay away.

The prime minister does not want to worsen ties with China and South Korea, but he does want to maintain his creed that he should pray for the war dead

Masaru Ikei

“The prime minister does not want to worsen ties with China and South Korea before President Obama’s visit, but he does want to maintain his creed that he should pray for the war dead,” he said.

Ikei said Washington’s very public and slightly unexpected rebuke after his last visit meant Abe “will not be able to visit the shrine again for a while”.

Japan’s chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga on Monday sought to play down Abe’s shrine gift.

“The offering was made in his capacity as a private person, and so the government should not comment on such an act by him.”

Asked about possible ramifications on the upcoming meeting between Abe and Obama, Suga said: “It won’t affect the summit at all.”

Many conservative lawmakers are expected to go to the shrine to mark the spring festival on Tuesday.

Two of Abe’s cabinet ministers have already visited, saying they did not want the visits to interrupt their official duties.

Yoshitaka Shindo, Japanese minister for internal affairs and communications, provoked outrage when he visited the shrine two weeks ago. He said it was a "private matter" and Japan's foreign ministry said Shindo's grandfather had fought in the war.

Some countries see the Yasukuni shrine, which honours Japan's war dead including 14 war criminals, as a symbol of Japan’s refusal to come to terms with its wartime past, and have criticised Japan for "provoking its neighbours" when officials including Abe have paid visits to the shrine.

Ties with South Korea have shown slight signs of improvement recently, following a three-way summit between Abe, Obama and President Park Geun-hye and the visit to Seoul last week of a senior Japanese diplomat.

But relations with China remain sour.

In a further sign of their parlous state, Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said China had seized one of its ships in a row over what Beijing says are unpaid damages relating to events in the 1930s.

That came after Japan began building a military installation in the far southwest of its long island chain, near the disputed Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims as the Diaoyus.

The facility will bolster its ability to surveil China and is likely to further irritate Beijing, which regularly warns that Japan is re-militarising, while ramping up its own military spending and capacity.

What have u been smoking lately ? A country dat does not recognized their atrocious past n continue to worship criminals are not worthy of any honour.
How difficult is dat for u to comprehend...what u r saying is absolutely rubbish.
Its like U r implying dat it's OK to worship Hitler and respect him with honour. ...
Make sense to u ????

Jonathan Smith Apr 22nd 20146:09am

Japanese are liars. Japanese are cowards. Japanese treat POW cruelly because they believe that it is better to die than to surrender. In 1945 when Japan surrendered unconditionally they prove that Japan is a country of liars. Liars in the past, now and forever. An extremely dishonourable people. Now praying to war-criminals at the Yasukuni War Shrine also proves that they are war-mongers. Apart from the 14 class A war-criminals, most of the Japanese enshrined at the Yasukuni War Shrine are also war criminals dying for a barbaric cause. Dishonourable people with no future.

what mao did is for the Chinese ppl to decide themselves albeit 2 historical thoughts during the cultural revolution.
but in your case, japan has clearly crossed the line by systematically killing ppl not in china only but the hideous carnage continued deep into asean where I live.
siding and applauding japan ritual of paying respect @ ys
clearly shows your lack of humanity and understanding of history.

Daniel Lee Apr 21st 20145:49pm

There is nothing to stop the psychopath Japanese Prime Minister from going incognito to the Yasukuni War Shrine to pray to war-criminals. Nobody will know if the nutcase goes disguised to worship war-criminals at the Yasukuni War Shrine.

andreaswagner Apr 21st 201411:27pm

A country that does not remember and honour their war dead, is not worthy to be respected or received as an honourable country. Japan does the right thing by honouring the people that died for it, as many other countries honour theirs.
Of course there are countries that don't understand that. You can not buy honour and respect with your new made money. You can hang silk on a goat, but it's still a goat:)